The Juno Awards of 2017, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
the weekend of 1–2 April 2017. The ceremonies were held at the
Canadian Tire Centre
Canadian Tire Centre (french: links=no, Centre Canadian Tire) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located in the western suburb of Stittsville. It opened in January 1996 as the Palladium and was also known as Corel Cen ...
in
Kanata and televised on
CTV with
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
and
Russell Peters
Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on ''Forbes'' list of the world's highe ...
as co-hosts.
The duo replaced
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...
, who was originally scheduled to host the show.
Events
Various events associated with the awards are held in Ottawa from 27 March until the primary awards ceremony at the Canadian Tire Centre on 2 April. The Last Juno Award Broadcast on CTV.
The
Juno Cup
The Juno Cup is a yearly ice hockey game held in conjunction with the Juno Awards, first conducted at the 2004 Juno Awards. The games match National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) i ...
charity hockey game was played at
TD Place Arena
TD Place Arena, originally the Ottawa Civic Centre, is an indoor arena located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, seating 9,500. With temporary seating and standing room it can hold 10,585. Opened in December 1967, it is used primarily for sports, inc ...
on 31 March. The NHL former players team beat the musicians team with a score of 13-12.
A Songwriters' Circle event was hosted by
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, po ...
on 2 April at the National Arts Centre.
Daniel Caesar
Ashton Dumar Norwill Simmonds (born April 5, 1995), known professionally as Daniel Caesar, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After independently building a following through the release of two critically acclaimed EPs, ''Praise Break'' (201 ...
,
Chantal Kreviazuk
Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk (; born May 18, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist. Born in Winnipeg, she played music from a young age before signing with Columbia Records in the 1990s. Her debut studio album, ''Under These ...
,
Lisa LeBlanc
Lisa LeBlanc (born August 13, 1990), is a Canadian singer-songwriter and banjoist, known for her enthusiastic "trash folk" performances.
Early life
LeBlanc was born in Rosaireville, New Brunswick. She is of Acadian heritage, and comes from a f ...
,
Colin Linden
Colin Kendall Linden (born 16 April 1960) is a Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Linden plays acoustic and electric guitar, specializing in slide guitar, country blues, and ragtime fingerpicking. He frequently collaborates with ...
,
Paul Murphy and
Donovan Woods performed.
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
broadcast recordings of this event.
Gala dinner
Most award category winners were announced at a private dinner gala 1 April at the Shaw Centre hosted by musician and CBC Radio host
Tom Power
Thomas Francis Power (1869 – February 25, 1898) was an American professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for one season. In 1890, he played primarily as a first baseman, but also played as a second baseman, ...
.
The late
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
won the Artist of the Year category; his son
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
accepted the award on his behalf at the gala.
The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassi ...
won Rock Album of the Year for their album ''Man Machine Poem''. ''Secret Path'', the solo album by Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie, won Junos in two categories: Adult Alternative Album and Recording Package of the Year. Drake did not win any of his several nominations at the gala and The Weeknd won in only the R&B/Soul Recording category for his ''Starboy'' album.
Primary ceremony
The televised award ceremony on 2 April was hosted by
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
and
Russell Peters
Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on ''Forbes'' list of the world's highe ...
. Performers included
Arkells
Arkells is a Canadian rock band, formed in Hamilton, Ontario. In 2006, they signed with Dine Alone Records, and have since signed with Universal Records Canada and Last Gang Records. They are managed by Last Gang Management. They have released s ...
,
Alessia Cara
Alessia Caracciolo (born July 11, 1996), known professionally as Alessia Cara (), is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Mississauga, Ontario, to Italian Canadian parents, she began posting covers of songs on YouTube at age 13. After uploadi ...
,
Billy Talent
Billy Talent is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup change ...
,
Dallas Smith
Dallas Hendry Smith (born December 4, 1977) is a Canadian singer and songwriter, who performs both as a solo country music artist and as lead singer for the hard rock band Default. He is currently signed to Big Loud Records. Smith is the curre ...
,
July Talk
July Talk is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 2012 in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of singers Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay, guitarist Ian Docherty, bassist Josh Warburton, and drummers Danny Miles and Dani Nash. July Talk relea ...
,
Ruth B
Ruth Berhe (born July 2, 1995), better known by her stage name Ruth B., is a Canadian singer and songwriter from Edmonton, Alberta. She started by singing songs on Vine in early 2013. In November 2015, she released her debut extended play '' The I ...
,
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...
,
Shawn Mendes
Shawn Peter Raul Mendes (; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian pop singer. He gained a following in 2013, when he posted song covers on the video sharing platform Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gert ...
,
The Strumbellas
The Strumbellas are a rock band from Lindsay, Ontario, whose music has been described as alternative country, indie rock, farm emo, and gothic folk. ,
A Tribe Called Red.
Changes to host
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...
was originally scheduled to host the awards, but had cancelled public appearances due to his son's cancer diagnosis.
It was announced on 1 November 2016 that the singer would return to host of the 2017 ceremony after playing emcee in 2013. Three days later, on 3 November, Bublé made public that he would be suspending professional activities to focus on his son's treatment. At that time it was uncertain whether he would still host the Junos or its British counterpart, the
Brits.
Bell Media president Randy Lennox said in an interview with The Canadian Press that initial discussions with Russell Peters began in early November when the comedian offered to take the hosting gig if Bublé needed someone else to step in.
Shortly after Bublé opted to forgo the Brit Awards hosting plans, singer Adams also began talking with Juno organizers about taking a role in the Canadian broadcast.
On 9 March 2017, the Juno Awards announced that Bublé would be replaced by Adams and Peters.
Indigenous introduction
The telecast began with a sketch introducing the co-hosts prior to taking the stage. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared in this segment, phoning Adams to request a performance of "
Summer of '69
"Summer of '69" is a song recorded by the Canadian musician Bryan Adams from his fourth album, '' Reckless''. The song is about a dilemma between settling down or trying to become a rock star. The song was written by Adams and his longtime song ...
".
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...
appeared on stage at the Canadian Tire to declare that the event was held on traditional Algonquin territory. She then introduced
A Tribe Called Red who performed music from their album ''We are the Halluci Nation'' accompanied by
throat singer
Overtone singing – also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, and diphonic singing – is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract, in order to arous ...
Tanya Tagaq
Tanya may refer to:
* Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
* Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name
* Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946)
* List of Mortal Kombat characters#Tany ...
.
Leonard Cohen tribute
Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau paid tribute to musician
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
who died in November 2016.
Feist then sang Cohen's song "Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye", accompanied only by her acoustic guitar and singers Ariel Engle and
Daniela Gesundheit
Daniela Gesundheit (born 15 April 1982) is a singer, songwriter, musician, composer, lyricist, and Cantor living between Los Angeles, California and Toronto, Ontario. Daniela Gesundheit holds a BA in music from Wesleyan University, where she focus ...
of Hydra. Cohen's album ''You Want it Darker'' was later awarded a Juno for Album of the Year. He won the Artist of the Year category during the previous night's gala.
McLachlan joins Hall of Fame
Sarah McLachlan was this year's inductee to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. A video montage featuring of her career began with a tribute from former American president
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
.
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...
,
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...
,
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, '' Billboard'' maga ...
,
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
and
Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumental ...
also provided statements in honour of McLachlan's career.
McLachlan took the stage to make an acceptance speech which noted the presence and importance of diversity, politeness and the arts in Canadian society, declaring that "
Canadians, we're far from perfect, but we have a lot to offer the world and we have to continue to set the bar high." while expressing gratitude to those who supported her career.
Peters controversy
During the ceremony broadcast, co-host Russell Peters spotted some young women in the audience and remarked "Look at all the young girls. This is a felony waiting to happen."
Furthermore, when announcing that Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mélanie Joly
Mélanie Joly (born January 16, 1979) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada), Minister of Foreign Affairs since October 2021. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party, Joly repr ...
was co-presenting the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award with musician Coleman Hell, Russell added "I don't know why, but she's hot, so who cares?"
The following day, Joly declared that Peters' comments were not appropriate, indicating a need to ensure "that all our role models are supporting the importance of gender parity."
Allan Reid, president of CARAS and the Juno Awards, issued an apology and distanced the Juno Awards organization from Peters' statements.
Nominees and winners
Category nominees were announced on 7 February 2017.
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...
is the 2017 recipient of the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award.
Randy Lennox
Randy Lennox is a Canadian music and media executive. He currently serves as executive chair of Elevate, the Canadian purpose-driven cultural & innovation hub, and continues to produce film and television documentaries.
He has served as president ...
is the year's recipient of the
Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award The Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award is awarded by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to "individuals who have contributed to the growth and development of the Canadian music industry." It is given annually every Juno Awards ...
.
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...
is the 2017
Canadian Music Hall of Fame
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established in 1978 by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to honour Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The award presentation is held each year as part of the ...
inductee.
The category for Aboriginal Album of the Year was renamed to Indigenous Music Album of the Year as of the 2017 awards. The first 34 awards were announced on 1 April 2017.
People
Albums
Songs and recordings
Other
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juno Awards Of 2017
2017 music awards
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
Music festivals in Ontario
Culture of Ottawa
2017 in Canadian music